Abstract:

Traumatic events such as the COVID-19 pandemic that occur for various reasons in different parts of the world, cause forced changes in the social order and affect large masses, have negative effects on all people, including children with special needs and their families. Using a mixed method research design, the purpose of this project is to investigate the impacts of COVID-19 pandemic on the quality of life of children with disabilities and their families and moderating roles of several different variables. Participants included 824 parents of children with disabilities. Quantitative data were collected over a three-month period using online or paper data forms containing seven different data collection tools. Qualitative data were collected through semi-structured interviews conducted face-to-face, on the telephone or using online technologies. Path analysis, multivariate analysis of variance, and correlation analysis were used to analyze the quantitative data while inductive content analysis was used to analyze qualitative data. The quantitative findings of the study show that (a) the quality of life of families decreases as the effect of COVID-19 increases; (b) social support, parental competence and psychological resilience mediate the impact of COVID-19 and quality of life; (c) the impact of COVID-19 on families differs based on the school level their children attend and are not affected by the type and level of disability; (d) child level variables do not affect the quality of family life; (e) socioeconomic level has an effect on the quality of family life and the impact of COVID-19, but parental education do not affect dependent variables, and (f) perceived child development is negatively affected as the impact of COVID-19 increases. The qualitative findings of the study provide information on how children with special needs and their families are affected by the COVID-19 outbreak, providing guidance on what can be done to reduce or eliminate the negative effects of the ongoing epidemic process. In line with the findings of this research, it was determined how the COVID-19 epidemic affected children with special needs and their families, what kind of problems families faced during the pandemic, what strategies and resources they used to cope with these problems, and what kind of supports they needed. Suggestions and recommendations were provided. Findings of this research will guide decision makers in similar situations.

Keywords:

COVID-19 pandemic, family quality of life, children with disabilities, parents, social support, family burden, parental self-efficacy, psychological resilience.